My stomach turned over. I made a note to give them a wide berth. They looked like a rough crowd.
It was like the weird social circles in high school. The closer I looked, the more obvious the division between them all was. It didn’t look like there was much intermingling happening. Well, that was one similarity between us—my species, and theirs.
It didn’t ease my stomach much.
“Well, good evening,” said a voice through the din, as soft as the velvet settees. To my left, two gentlemen stood beside me at the railing.
The man closest to me, leaning casually on the rail, looked to be about nineteen or twenty. He was quite good-looking and smiled effortlessly at me. He reminded me of those actors in old movies, sophisticated and handsome. His dark hair was short and styled in messy spikes, short along the sides. He had broad shoulders and was taller than Byron. His green eyes gazed at me with great intensity.
The other man was even taller, but much broader. He had a wide jaw, a large nose, and sandy hair that hung over his dark, aggressive eyes. His brow was furrowed as if annoyed by everything around him. He reminded me of a movie villain’s sidekick: kind of dumb, more brawn than brains. His eyes were intense in a distasteful sort of way, prodding at me. I didn’t dare look away for fear it’d make me seem like frightened prey, so I just stared back at him. His look and bearing reminded me of the Cro-Magnons we’d studied in school.
I swallowed, keeping tight rein on my panic; two vampires were talking to me. “Hello.”
“I don’t believe I’ve seen you around here before,” the first, handsome man said, his smile widening. “And I know pretty much everyone at these parties.”
I brushed a stray curl from my eyes and lifted a fake smile. Somehow, it was easier than I had thought it would be. “Yeah, I don’t know you either. It’s a lot busier tonight than I would have expected.”
The handsome one arched an eyebrow, and then he and the man beside him laughed a little. “Really? I guess the last few times that Lord Draven has called a clan meeting like this, more of the sects have shown up.”
I looked down into the dance floor and gestured to the trendy group out there. “Well, I knew that they would come.”
The handsome one nodded, and the not-handsome man beside him followed suit. “You always know that they will come. Now, the Blackrose clan,” he said, pointing to some of the elegantly dressed individuals up on the balcony with them. “Them I’m surprised to see.” He had an accent—one I couldn’t quite place, owing to its faintness. Scandinavian?
“Me too,” I lied.
“Of course,” the not-handsome one murmured, eyeing them warily, “after last time …” The handsome one nodded. “Thought for sure we were going to have another war on our hands.” His voice had dropped too.
Another war? I filed that one away for later. It didn’t bear pressing on right now.
“What about them?” I asked, pointing down at the vampires down by the bar. “Do you recognize them?”
“Apparently someone owes them a favor,” said Handsome. “And you know how vampires can be about ensuring they get what they are owed.” He leaned closer. “I think they’re Irish, originally. Clan name is Conall.”
I tried to hide my jaw clenching. I didn’t care about the clan name, but that bit of character insight to vampires was interesting. Byron certainly thought I owed him something.
“So, mystery lady,” the man said. He really was attractive, but I was more afraid than I was attracted. He, however, seemed pleased with what he was looking at. “What’s your name? We may as well be properly introduced.”
There was a choice that I had to make. It probably wouldn’t do for me to admit that I was a human—especially after lying just now to blend in.
The text messages I had received flooded back into my mind: there were people here that I could trust.
I shuffled my ankle around in my boot—and I felt the presence of the stake up against my calf.
At least I had that. I wasn’t completely without the ability to defend myself. And so I smiled, a toothy grin this time, and prepared to once again do the thing I was best at:
Lie.
Chapter 17
There’s a secret to lying, and it’s this: if you’re going to tell a series of lies, you need to keep them small and as close to your experience as best you can. Because if you go out there and tell a series of big lies, you’re a lot more likely to get caught.
Trying my best to look seductive—lips pouted, a finger in my hair, movie seductress style—and hoping vampires would fall for it (not unreasonable, with the likes of Byron and the way Mr. Handsome was looking at me at the moment), I introduced myself:
“I’m Elizabeth.” Middle name—little lie, easy to remember.
“You new to the area, Elizabeth?” the taller, handsome vamp asked, turning his body toward me.
I laughed as heartily as I could without sounding fake and winked at him. Winked. What? Who did I think I was? “Is it that obvious?”
The music down below changed to a deeper, darker beat, and the vampires’ moods changed too. Many of them moved to partner up with someone, their bodies entwining until they looked like one person. For little old me, used to high school dances, this was … way more intense. There was a level of intimacy on display here that made me uneasy, but I put away that discomfort and smiled at the handsome man who wasn’t actually a man.
The music was making my head swim. I shook it ever so slightly to clear it.
The vampire across from me grinned, showing all of his teeth. “Maybe a little,” he said, leaning a little closer. He studied my face a little too closely, and I wondered if the jig was up already. “So where are you from?”
“New York,” I answered. “And no, before you ask, I’m not from the city. I’m from a little ho-dunk town outside of Syracuse. You wouldn’t have heard of it.”
Not a lie—though I probably sounded like a vampire hipster, answering that way. Did vampires have hipsters? Maybe they drank artisanal, small-batch blood. Whatever the case, I didn’t really want them to know exactly where I was from. Someone could find out my history, or about my parents, and that was just too much.
The handsome vamp just smiled at me, waiting for me to go on.
I tried my best to appease him without nailing myself down. “Let’s just say it snows a ton, the sun goes down very early in winter, and the closest Starbucks is at least thirty minutes away.”
The vampire grinned, and then he laughed. His friend the unhandsome remained stoic, his stern face even uglier by virtue of its stubborn refusal to relax. “Must have made the hunt a little more difficult, huh?” He shook his head. “I hate those small towns. It’s so much harder to make someone disappear quietly, without attracting attention.”
I nodded pointedly. “You aren’t kidding.” Even so, a new shiver ran its way down my spine, settling into the small of my back and refusing to leave. A reminder—a real one—of what, who, I was dealing with—and what they could do to me.
“So what’s your sect? You didn’t mention them,” he prodded, and looked curiously at me again. “Or are you more of the loner type?”
Sect. They mentioned clans earlier, and I did a quick sweep of the room. He had mentioned the Blackrose clan, and I knew immediately that he must have meant family of sorts. Obviously not all people were turned into vampires with their real families, though I was sure that must happen sometimes. But a sect must be like their version of a family. It made me wonder how they were chosen or formed—though asking was off limits here. “It’s a small group that I met a couple of years back,” I said, vague, airy, but hopefully with enough confidence that he was satisfied by the answer. “They were wonderful to me, but I didn’t really want to stay in the same place for my whole life, you know? I like to travel.”
The handsome guy me arched an eyebrow, and he and the silent one beside him exchanged glances. The quiet one even frowned.
“Just visiting,” I added hastily. “A vacation, re
ally. To see the place where one of my friends is from.”
They both nodded, as if in understanding. I held back my sigh of relief.
I mentally filed away what I’d learned. Apparently vampires held their sects in some regard. That suggested to me that they were tight-knit groups. So me pretending to be here without mine was almost seen as a no-no. Apparently it wasn’t that weird for vampires to take vacations, though, so I had dodged that bullet.
Maybe.
Still, despite their nods, neither spoke for the next few moments. The good-looking one’s brow was furrowed, like he was trying to process my answer, even though he had already responded to it. Worry started to creep up again into my stomach, tightening my chest.
“What about you?” I asked, looking back over at them, hoping the question would derail whatever thought process was currently unfolding behind those intense green eyes. “I pretty much just told you my entire after-life story. You owe me.” Another exchange of looks—silent communication. It set off alarm bells in my head, but I had to do my best to save this before it totally unspooled. So I asked, “What about your sects?”
The handsome one did a short, sweeping bow, which sort of surprised me. Very graceful. I made a mental note to myself to not fall down the stairs lest I give myself away immediately.
“My name is Theodore, and this is Mill.” Mr. Handsome gestured over his shoulder. “But I go by Theo nowadays.”
Nowadays? Just how old was this guy?
The one named Mill inclined his head but didn’t move his eyes from my face. There was something about the intensity of his gaze that bothered me, and I couldn’t tell whether it was because he was viewing me as food or a curiosity. Either way, it was deeply discomforting.
Mill was an interesting name, but I definitely didn’t want to inquire about its origin. And Theodore sounded as old-fashioned as Byron.
Their names was the full extent of their answer though. Vampires held their cards close to their chests, apparently. I guess I didn’t blame them. They didn’t know me, I didn’t know them.
Problem was, how could I get them to spill their guts?
As long as I didn’t look like a threat to them, then I guess that was what mattered. I needed them to trust me, even if it was only marginally. If they didn’t then it was likely I would end up as dinner.
Or breakfast, depending on the time.
“Well, it was nice to meet you both,” I replied. I subtly turned my body away, as if to close the conversation.
“Likewise,” Theo answered, and his easy smile made me feel a little more relaxed again. I kept my body angled away, though, continuing my watch over the suite’s lower floor.
Again the music changed, this time to something more upbeat. A few others from around the room streamed toward the dance floor, clans finally starting to mingle in the middle of the room below.
“Do you dance, Elizabeth?” Theo asked.
“Only a little,” I replied. I fumbled around for eras and dates in my mind. “I learned waltz in my younger years, but it’s been a long time.”
Yeah, I never learned how to waltz. I was lucky that I hadn’t fallen off the stage doing ballet when I was five.
“I do enjoy dancing,” Theo replied. “Though it has been a long time since I have found a worthy partner. “
He gave me a sly look and I felt my cheeks flush. Good thing the room was dark; it probably hid my face better. The last thing I needed was for a vampire to see pools of blood beneath my skin. Talk about temptation. The music faded, and all of the vampires on the dance floor moved back underneath the pillars and the balcony, gracefully, and almost as one. No command was given, which made it look all the more odd to an outsider like me. I glanced at Theo, but he evinced no sign of surprise, so I kept my own interest contained, just watching, placidly, as the sea of vampires below parted. A gong crashed, loud, and the last few stragglers on the dance floor moved away.
“About time,” Theo mumbled under his breath. “Late, as usual.”
I wasn’t sure where the sound had come from, but it definitely shut everyone up. The other vampires up along the balcony had moved to the railing to peer down into the dance floor, just as Theo, Mill, and I were. A tall, dark-haired woman with black eyes came to stand beside me, apparently entirely unaware of my presence. I tried not to look at her, but I could feel her beside me, like a gaping black hole of cold standing next to me. Her dark eyes were focused over the balcony, not a thought spared for anything else. Around the rail, I saw the same, dozens of vampires totally focused on what was going on below.
Something was happening, and my heart begin to speed up. Whatever it was, I guessed that this was what I had been brought here for.
Chapter 18
“That’s the governor for this territory.”
I glanced over and realized a second late that it was Mill who had spoken. His voice was deeper than Theo’s, almost raspy, like he didn’t speak often. His eyes were on me, watching me carefully.
I raised my eyebrows in surprise but hoped that it came off more like irritation. “I knew that already but thank you.”
Mill grunted and turned his attention back to the dance floor.
“Don’t mind him,” Theo whispered, his hand over his mouth. “He idolizes Lord Draven like no one else.”
There was that name again.
Murmurs filtered through the crowd, and I looked down to see an eerily tall man—almost seven feet—standing in the middle of the dance floor, gazing around and up at all of the gathered vampires. He had long legs, long arms, and long fingers. His fingertips were pressed together in front of him.
He was wearing a dark suit, absolutely pristine. It looked expensive and was cut to fit him perfectly. His ivory shirt beneath the suit coat was only a shade paler than his skin. His flesh almost glowed, like the pale light from the moon on a clear night. His hair, slicked back and thick, had streaks of grey near the temples.
His mouth split open in a smile, and I almost recoiled. Long, sharp, thin teeth protruded out of his mouth, past his bottom lip—and then, just as quickly, they retracted. My heart did not just flutter, it practically pitched a spazz. I hoped like hell my poker face was as good as I thought it was. Whatever age he might have been when he was turned, I got the distinct impression Lord Draven was old. Really old. Maybe as old as the city itself. Theo, Mill, or even Byron didn’t look anything like him. This man standing below me almost looked feral, like the sort of vampires in stories and movies. The others could easily pass as humans, and many of them did, Byron included.
But this man, this vampire, definitely couldn’t mingle with us.
He held out his hands in a sweeping gesture, still beaming with that fanged smile at all of the faces that were turned to look at him. There was genuine pleasure in his look, but it was tempered with a coldness that made me want to shiver. I forced myself to keep looking at him, and to put a smile of my own up, matching the vamps clustered along the balcony rail.
“Friends, family, comrades.” His voice was deep, like a rumbling river, carrying the entire span of the suite, booming off the windows. And then he paused—and in that silence, not one person spoke, even a murmur. No one dared. It was like the most intimidating teacher in high school times a thousand, silencing every soul in his class with lethal precision.
If there were any souls in the room, apart from me.
“Thank you all for coming this evening. It is a glorious occasion when we can all get together like this and behave like civilized beings.”
Low laughter spread around the room. Lord Draven held up his hands again.
“It is important for us to get together, and to share stories and news from the other corners of the world, but at the end of the day, we are still the sects in control of this little corner of the Sunshine State.”
Theo and Mill shared a snicker, and I realized the irony in the joke as well. It did seem strange that vampires would choose Florida as a place to live, being that there was so
much, well, sunshine.
“I am glad to see that we can put aside our differences in order to better our own way of living. It is hard enough without conflict among ourselves.” His gaze was cool as it swept over the room. From the little that Theo had said, he must be referring to the Blackrose clan and whatever dispute they had had.
His fingertips came back together, his hands looking like white, glowing spiders.
“We have done very well here in Tampa over the years, better than some sects have done in other parts of the state, I say with certitude.”
He began pacing in a circle. Every eye followed him. “We have seen much success, and our sects have flourished, all without the knowledge of the humans.”
I swallowed.
He stopped, and he grinned as he looked up into the balcony. Fear stabbed through me—was he looking at me?—but then his gaze moved back to the lower floor.
“But the days behind us will pale in comparison to the days ahead, this I promise. Be prepared, my flock, to take full advantage of the bounty that is to come.”
Servants, or butlers, dressed like the sort who’d wait on a lord or lady in an English manor, had been meandering through the party. I’d snatched glimpses of them, although like any good butler, they mostly kept themselves out of sight, appearing only as a sliver between shadows.
Lord Draven beckoned one forward now.
The servant approached, bowed, and offered a tray. Upon it stood a single crystal flute. Its contents were dark—almost black.
Lord Draven took the glass, and the server excused himself, bowing again.
With a wide smile on his face, fangs bared once more, Lord Draven lifted his glass high into the air as a toast. Glasses seemed to appear from nowhere, were raised all across the room as the vampire gathering followed suit. Theo and Mill lifted their own, and I wondered how I had missed them before.
My knees turned to jelly.
Blood. They were holding champagne flutes of blood. I had to hold onto the railing to keep from falling over.
No One Will Believe You Page 10